Using Whatsapp to encourage learning

I am Sihad Jasim, teacher of 3rd grade in the Farazdaq school.

Everyone knows that one day a week for a few hours is not enough for a student to learn a new language, or even begin to master this.

This is a message to all the teachers out there who are finding it very disappointing when they come back the next week and having the students forget the lesson, parents as most of you may know don’t have time to listen to their children every day and some parents struggle to get their child to do their work. If a student or a child does not practice what they have learnt everyday or every second day, they will forget what they have learnt and by not practicing this all the teaching goes to waste.

We need to use what we have to improve our teaching and tracking skills, which will improve the end result for our students. Technology is seen by many parents as something that will harm their children and is causing a lot of chaos and ignorance. We need to start using modern technology to our advantage. What’s app is a messaging application known by many with over a million users, as long as you have an internet connection you can text, send photos, videos and most importantly voice notes. In my class I have introduced this method to all the students parents, I have created a group chat for all of the parents so that they can bring up any queries and this is where I (as a teacher) set the students daily homework, for example if I have set them to read the first two lines of a certain page, by the end of the day all of my students would have sent me the voice notes/recordings of them reading this. I will then send one back correcting their mistakes and praising them on what they have read correct and rewarding their efforts. By doing this every day I will be able to track their progression.

If you have any questions don’t hesitate to contact me.

E-mail: sihad97@hotmail.co.uk

For more info on the Effective Teaching Skills in Supplementary Schools course